Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce is at a loss to understand why Joey Barton may feel he was taken for granted at City or that the club lack ambition.

Barton slapped in a transfer request late last night after rejecting City's double-your-money offer of é28,000-a-week.

Although the demand was instantly rejected by Pearce, coming just 24 hours before the deadline closes, it did raise the suspicion Barton had another move lined up.

The former England Under-21 star's agent Willie McKay has flatly rejected such talk, insisting Barton has become frustrated at being `taken for granted' by the Blues, adding that the desire to leave Eastlands is not fuelled by money.

"I have various emotions but I find it difficult to understand how he can say he is being taken for granted and I also do not see how he can say we lack ambition when we have just spent é6million on a 20-year-old striker," said Pearce.

"I have no idea whether Joey has been tapped up or not but in a sense it is irrelevant.

"The bottom line is the decision stops with me. If I say Joey is not going anywhere, he doesn't go anywhere, whether there is a third party involved or not.

"It is not as if a deal can be done and without us knowing about it."

As of lunchtime, City had received no bid for the 23-year-old, who will be included in Pearce's squad to face Newcastle tomorrow despite the likelihood of a massive fan backlash against him.